Domino’s eat humble pie

The writing was on the wall.  Dominos didn’t like its placing among the large pizza chains.  And their self inflicted wound courtesy the disgusting actions of 2 employees, distributed far and wide courtesy YouTube made things even worse for Dominos.  They needed a sea change not an incremental one.

Firstly, for those of you who didn’t hear about it, here’s what happened last year:

Dominos has chosen to fight fire with fire.  Since the 2 employees used YouTube to distribute their story, Dominos decided they would use the same medium to tell theirs.  And it’s a story about listening.  They listened and ate humble pie.  Here’s some of what their listening has led to.

Domino’s Pizza Turnaround

The speed of the internet means that bad news spread fast and so can good news.  And some companies are acknowledging that they should do something that’s more rare than you think.  That something is listening to customers and acting on what they hear.  I think we can do a better job of applying that simple lesson in the T&T marketplace.  Just think of some of the things that bmobile could have done differently to acknowledge their short comings in the Beyonce concert.  For starters, a big fat sorry would have been nice.  Future concerts should capture e-mails and cells of all attendees that could facilitate conversations.  The old approach of staying quiet and expecting/hoping that a calamity goes away won’t cut it anymore.  People, your customers, are asking for the big R, respect.

And that’s what Dominos understands.  Respect or die.  Listen and act or perish.  And most importantly, acknowledge that you don’t own your brand, customers do.

More at www.pizzaturnaround.com

2 Comments
  • Bjorn Stodart

    22 March, 2010, 1:44 pm

    Agreed! I think Domino’s has done a complete re-vamp of their brand identity which to me was much needed. Their commercials about how “they have listened” to their customers and “made necessary changes” to the quality of the product caught my attention. We had a Domino’s pizza the other day in the office and I thought it was much improved and tastes great! They really needed a push in this direction as their fan base and loyalty has consistently been on the decline.

  • Bjorn Stodart

    22 March, 2010, 1:44 pm

    Agreed! I think Domino's has done a complete re-vamp of their brand identity which to me was much needed. Their commercials about how “they have listened” to their customers and “made necessary changes” to the quality of the product caught my attention. We had a Domino's pizza the other day in the office and I thought it was much improved and tastes great! They really needed a push in this direction as their fan base and loyalty has consistently been on the decline.